Forgotten Heroes: Johnny "Guitar" Watson

A Gangster Is Born
In 1957, Watson went into the studio for
Keen Records to rework a piano-and-vocal
demo called “Love Bandit” that he had
recorded while at Modern Records. The
resulting full-band version became “Gangster
of Love.” Though sometimes touted as an
early “rap” record—not the least by Watson
himself—“Gangster” was more in the tradition
of talking R&B as practiced by Louis
Jordan and the Coasters. It was the beginning
of an image makeover that would in later
years evolve into early “gangsta,” decked out
in “bling” and “pimpin’ the hos.” Once again
Watson’s work proved more influential than
lucrative. Though the song was not a hit at
the time, it has been covered a lot since then.
A version appears on a pre-Columbia Records
Johnny Winter recording, but it was the one
on Steve Miller’s Sailor that finally earned the
struggling Texan some serious money.

As he engaged in more label-hopping for
the next few years, Watson cut “Looking
Back” in 1961 for Escort Records. That
tune would be covered in England by both
John Mayall—who credited Watson—and
Spencer Davis, who didn’t. In 1961, thanks
again to Johnny Otis, Watson ended up at
Syd Nathan’s King Records, where he had
an R&B Top 10 hit with a string-drenched
slow blues tune called “Cuttin’ In.” His first
and only full LP for King, Johnny “Guitar”
Watson, packaged new material with remakes
of tunes from earlier Watson records, including
“Gangster of Love.” The failure of Johnny
“Guitar” Watson to chart led the guitar slinger
to Crown Records, where he briefly
teamed up with blues legend Bobby “Blue”
Bland for the rare recording 2 in Blues.

By 1963, the popularity of blues within
the African American community was waning—
and yet it still hadn’t fully caught on
with the rock ’n’ roll generation. Watson
attempted to revitalize his career in 1964
by teaming up with singer Larry Williams,
who’d garnered fame with his cuts of “Bony
Moronie” and “Dizzy Miss Lizzy.” They
even formed a label—Jola Records (later
Jowat)—whose moniker combined letters
from their first names, but their first album
was released in England on Decca.

Williams introduced the relatively
unknown Watson to the British press and
public as “Elvis Presley’s guitarist.” Having
successfully sold that fairy tale, the duo
implied that their joint effort, The Larry
Williams Show featuring Johnny “Guitar”
Watson with the Stormsville Shakers, was a
live recording. It was, in fact, recorded in
the studio. Veracity aside, the pair’s R&B/
rock ’n’ roll sound went over well in England,
prompting the American label Okeh to sign
them. Commercial success was their goal, and
to that end they were determined to keep up
with the times. In 1967, they added vocals
to the Cannonball Adderly hit instrumental
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” which was written
by Joe Zawinul and later became a hit
for American pop band the Buckinghams.
Williams and and Watson also recorded a cool
cover of the Yardbirds’ hit “For Your Love,”
and in 1968 joined with the Kaleidoscope
(a band that, at one point, featured a young
David Lindley) for a sitar-driven piece of soul/
psychedelia called “Nobody.”

The duo became a big hit on the British
Northern Soul circuit with tunes like “Two
for the Price of One” and “Too Late,” but
unfortunately for 6-string fans, this style of
music required putting Watson’s distinctive
guitar playing on the back burner.

Finding the Funk
The early ’70s found Watson picking up
his guitar again, first as a session player for
artists like keyboardist George Duke and his
famous early idolizer Frank Zappa. Watson
also knew the Adderlys—Cannonball and
his brother Nat—because of “Mercy, Mercy,
Mercy,” and when the brothers formed their
own production company they helped their
friend get a deal with Fantasy Records in
Berkeley, California.

Left alone to produce himself, Watson
began forging a sound that suited the times:
a combination of blues and slow-jamstyle
funk—think Barry White and Bill
Withers, and you’ve got the idea. Fantasy
released Listen and I Don’t Want to Be
Alone, Stranger, later combining them on
CD as Lone Ranger. Both albums featured
a lot of great guitar playing, though it was
wrapped in a veneer of smooth soul. While
white audiences had by then discovered
Buddy Guy and the three Kings of blues
(B.B., Freddie, and Albert), and were lapping
up British blues rock, Watson was
trying to keep the blues relevant to African
Americans by combining it with the soul
and funk sounds being heard in their communities.
“Just because [blues] has been
presented in a way that they can’t grasp
doesn’t mean the love of blues isn’t there—it
is,” Watson told Rolling Stone in 1976.

At this stage of his career, the flamboyant
picker’s tone shifted from switchblade
sharp to a warmer, more liquid and vocallike
sound. He had forsaken his ’50s Fender
Stratocaster and ’60s Martin F-65 electric
for Gibsons, including ES-125, Explorer,
ES-335, ES-347, and (in the ’90s) SG
models. He also owned Fender Telecasters
and Jazzmasters, as well as a Vega acoustic.

Fantasy’s promotion of Listen left Watson
wanting, leading him to hire his own independent
promoter, who propelled a single
from the record into the Top 20 of the R&B
charts. The momentum helped his next
release, I Don’t Want to Be Alone, Stranger, sell
nearly half a million copies. While at Fantasy,
Watson added guitar to records by trumpeters
Nat Adderly and Freddie Hubbard, and
used the studio time afforded him there to
hone his production skills. He even got gigs
producing records for Percy Mayfield and
Betty Everett. By 1975, Watson was label-less
again. But he was still productive, partnering
with singer Lenny Williams to compose
“Don’t Change Horses (In the Middle of the
Stream)” for Tower of Power.

Michael Ross is a writer/musician/producer/bon vivant living in Nashville. He curates guitarmoderne.com, dedicated to avant-garde and experimental guitar, and contributes to Premier Guitar, Guitar Player, Electronic Musician, and Sound On Sound. He is the author of Getting Great Guitar Sounds and All About Effects.

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